Number The Stars
by prettykittydarling
Summary: Estrella lands herself in Os Dakar and meets up with Whist. im bad at summaries plz read anyway...whistoc
1. Chapter 1

**NUMBER THE STARS**

**My first Broken Sky fic…i hope everyone likes it. To anyone who cares, Estrella means "star" and the password is "the stars illuminate the night". Pretty huh? **

Chapter One

Estrella walked carefully along the beach, using only the light of the stars to guide her way. She had been on this path so often that she had the route memorized anyway.

She saw the guards approaching and ducked away to avoid them, their flashlight beams grazing the sand around her. She glanced up, waiting for her chance to get away.

They left and she darted out again. Finally she reached the spot she'd been searching for. It was very hidden, out of the way, and she moved the covering stone aside, to reveal a small, hidden hole. Not very easy to get into for a grown adult, but not difficult for someone as small and thin as herself.

The girl placed her feet in first, sliding in and moving to make herself go down faster, evantually, her feet found the rung steps and she took the stone, moving it back over herself as she went down.

The operation had to be quickly and carefully executed. Once inside, it was slightly damp and very dark. She picked her way carefully, and went to the door. It opened to a cavern, with a long walk underground leading toward Alejandro's house. The doors could only be opened from the outside.

She found the door, and knocked lightly against it. She listened for the password.

"Las estrellas illumuninan la noche," answered the voice of her father. She smiled, and opened the door. It only took her a little over a minute to do so, and then he stepped inside. With him were some new trainees, a man and his son as well. The man looked a little older than her father, his son looking a little younger than Estrella herself.

This night was the practice run for him, the easy way. The next time, he'd have to go with her and then it would be harder.

"What do I do now?" he whispered to her in heavily accented English, edging closer.

"Just watch," she whispered back, "and do what I do."

The men were inspecting the crates, checking to make sure everything that should be there was there. Esrella took the boy's hand and led him toward the boats. "What's your name?" she asked him. "And how old are you?"

"Hector," he said, "I'm almost 12, y tu?"

"I'm Estrella," she smiled, "I'm 14."

"What do we do?" he asked her, nervous.

"They wait here, while we go. The boats have to be taken along a certain path, but don't worry, with how dark it is and how hidden it is we won't be caught unless la policia knows exactly where to look for us, so pray that we haven't been snitched out." She paused, trying to ease the muscle pain in her back. It had been hurting her a lot lately. At least with the shirt she wore no would could see…

"Then, when we get to the meeting spot, we stop the boats. The place we're going is small and tight, that's why we need to do it. Because adults are too big and slow. Once we have the drugs, we come back and probably won't be called for a while. Lo tienes?"

He nodded, fear flashing in his eyes. "Yeah."

She gave him a friendly smile. "It's ok, nothing will go wrong, I've been doing these runs since I was 10 I know what to do."

In a little while everything was ready and they went out to the boats. Estrella only ever took 2 things with her. The first was strapped on to her thigh under her clothes, a wallet covered in plastic to make it waterproof and inside was some money, pictures, numbers to call in emergency, and other personal items. The other was a bag, not very large, in fact more of a shoulder bag than anything else but it held a change of clothes and a few items.

Should she get lost, or fall, these things would help her. She made a mental note to tell Hector to make a bag as well for future excusions.

They set out. The path she knew very well, as she had told him, and she knew how to manuever along the currents. Hector was interested and asked many questions. She answered, partly because she wanted to tell him anything he would need to know to complete the runs, and partly because she was used to doing it alone and she enjoyed the company.

However, usually the distance between them was too great to talk, since neither would talk above a whisper. When the distance closed again, he asked her what to do if he was alone and got lost.

"Look up," she said. "You will usually leave at the same time we left tonight. Where is the moon?"

"To my right," he said. "But we're not going there."

"I mean the other moon," she smiled. "It's what we call it. See," she pointed directly behind them. It was a set of lights, probably from casinos and other such things, but they gathered in the sky in a certain way that almost seemed circular, a red moon. "It's a straight line. Either you move directly away from it, or directly toward it, depending on where you're going. You'll be fine."

He said something in thanks and the distance widened again. The reached their destination and got out. Estrella was first, and showed him how to hide the boat. They went into another hidden passage, small and cramped. A person over 5"4 would not be able to fit through it.

Estrella knew she was getting older. She would be 15 in eight months, and although she was short for her age, she was 5"2, and she knew that she would keep growing, develop, and evantually reach 16. That would be the end of her career as a runner. Part of her was happy that she would no longer be on the beck and call of the drug dealers, but another larger part was concerned about how she would be able to get money to support her and her father.

They were waiting at the end, she smiled with relief. The crate was really quite heavy, and starting to hurt her back quite a bit. Hector, to his credit, was only grunting a bit but bearing the pain.

They were pulling them along in sort of wagons similar to those used to pull children only much bigger. When they stopped, their burden was taken and they were paid. She kept the money hidden, not going to show where she put it until they were out of sight.

The taller one leered at her, and she, feeling sick, turned away from him. She took Hector's hand and went back down, hearing him laugh behind her.

"Who are they?" Hector asked.

"Assholes," she answered. "Assholes who pay us. And if anyone asks you've never seen them before. Or me for that matter."

"Got it," he said.

She noticed he was shivering, he had only worn a long-sleeved shirt and jacket. It was cold over the waters, Estrella usually wore a long-sleeved shirt, a vest, a sweater, a sweatshirt, and a big coat on top with gloves. For pants, she wore tights, thick socks, warm jeans, and boots. Another part of the run he'd have to learn.

"Here," she said, taking off her coat and sweatshirt, passing him the grey hoodie. "Wear this, and remember to wear more next time."

"Thank you," he said.

After that, they didn't see each other for a while. Estrella attended school normally, skipped a few classes, went to see movies with friends, etc. She did another run by herself a few weeks later, but it was nearly 2 months before she had another run with Hector. One she would never forget.

It began normally. Her father didn't go this time because he was sick, and instead she met with Hector's father and another man she recognized btu didn't know the name of. She smiled at Hector and he smiled back. When they went to prepare she realized he was drunk.

Shit, she thought. She'd have to stay close to him them, to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

The run went as normal, and she landed easily. She looked around and couldn't find him. Shit. Either he was working for the cops or he'd gotten his drunk self lost.

She weighed her options. She didn't want him to go see the men waiting alone, so she decided she would spare 10 minutes looking for him. If she didn't find him she'd deliver and get the hell out of there.

She went along the path, searching. She found he had stopped, leaning on the side of the boat, throwing up.

"Hector," she hissed.

He looked up. "I don't feel so good, can you help me?"

She sighed and went to him, guiding the boat closer. Turning off the nearly silent engine she told him that she'd already unloaded her crate and to get in her boat and tie a rope to the stern and pass it over to her and she would tie it to her boat and pull him along.

Grateful, he nodded, and she went to his boat, carrying her bag. He stood up too fast and it began to rock threatening. "Slower," she hissed, "Be careful!"

The warning fell on deaf ears. He fell, and the entire thing tipped over.

She didn't have time to scream, water filled her mouth and lunf immediately. The crate was falling on top of her, pushing her down. She fought and cursed the fact that she had never learned to swim properly.

She heard a rushing sound, as though the water was becoming clearer like light and then suddenly nothing.

She kicked her way up, and strong hands—not the hands of a 12-year-old—pulled her up. She gasped, coughing, and he covered her mouth. "Be quiet," he said. "Are you trying to get the Snapper's attention?"

**Chapter one!! I hope you weren't too bored, I just needed to explain how Estrella got to…the broken sky world. Anyway. I hope it fits together ok because this is really just a dream I had and I'm making it a story because the dream kind of ended with Whist "rescuing" me. So it gave a lot to work with.**

**Tell me what you think and please Review!! **


	2. Chapter 2

**My mom left today for a 3-day convention. Esentially this means that your humble author will not be seen in school until she returns heheh. **

**Watched Scream and Scream 2 last night. Sooo good. But the girl really has bad taste, one boyfriend is sexy but a serial killer, and the other isn't but he's not at all sexy either. hmm…I'd take the first one.**

**Omg I realized I forgot to put a disclaimer on the first one!! I hope they don't sue me..**

**Double Disclaimer: I do not own Broken Sky x2**

**Do you think this makes it better???**

Chapter Two

Estrella barely heard what he said. She wasn't even looking at him. She shoved his hand off and covered her mouth herself, choking on water and coughing; albeit trying to do it quietly.

"Where..am..I?" she gasped out. She appeared to be in some sort of cave, and she was sure that there were none by the place the boat had tipped. So where was she?

"Os Dakar," he said. "But you should know that, if you're in it. I mean, it's not like people just land in it by accident. Do you mean the cave? It's a place I found where there's pretty good water and not _too_ many Snappers around to bother you. Blink found it for me. How'd you get in? I tried swimming through the pool you came from before but I ran out of air and had to surface. Do your stones allow you to breathe underwater?" he asked.

His tone was friendly and curious, but she still felt wary. What the hell was going on? She knew that he wasn't speaking either english, spanish, french or japanese; and she knew no other languages but she understood him perfectly.

However, for all that she was understanding the context of his words he may as well have been speaking German. Snappers? What was a snapper and why would they bother her? Os Dakar? She never heard of such a place. Who was Blink and what kind of name was that anyway? And why would stones allow her to breathe underwater?

She was finally finished coughing and held out her hand: stop. She took a good look at him: he looked about 16 with a handsome face and a hard body, covered sparcly by a ragged pair of trousers and boots that looked as though they had seen better days. He wore a belt with sharp-looking disks, and a thick glove on one hand, a wooden bead necklace around his neck. He was covered in intricate tattoos and his longish hair was wonderfully multi-coloured in a way Estrella has never seen before.

"Who are you?" she asked. She noticed that he had taken her bag without her noticing and was absently looking through it. "Hey that's mine!"

"I'm Whist," he said, giving her a grin that nearly melted her, and might have if he wasn't blatently looking through her things. He picked up a tiny, black see-through thong with a little bow on it as though wondering what it was.

"Hey!" she said, grabbing it back, "private things in there, don't touch." She heard a dog growl and suddenly noticed the huge beast. "Oh shit," she said.

"Don't mind him," he said. "He just doesn't like people yelling at me is all. And it's not exactly a good thing to yell in here, echos and all. What do you say to getting out? You definitely don't belong to a tribe, no colours at all."

Tribe? Why were there tribes? Did he mean gangs?

"Ok," she said. "But first: what's a snapper?"

"Haven't met one yet?" he asked. At her bewildered look he scratched his head lazily. "Kind of like big lizards that eat people. You gotta kill 'em fast and then get the hell out of there before its friends show up. That's about all you gotta know about Snappers."

They started walking, he led, the big dog matching his pace perfectly. She noticed how very tall he was, towering over her. He must have been about 5"8 or 9. She saw three silver stones aligned down his back, the same as the hot violet and black ones that went down hers and cried out in shock.

He scowled and covered her mouth quickly. "Sorry," she whispered. He took his hand away. "I just noticed…you have them too. The stone things in your back."

He gave her a look. "Yeah," he said, at a length. "What about them?"

"Well, I have some too…" she said. "Only I have six."

"Well, most people have at least one," he said. "Never met someone with six before though."

"What?" she asked. "What do you mean, most people have them? Apart from you I've never seen anyone with—" she stopped suddenly as they got out. The land was barren, riddled with a few plants and what looked suspicously like corpses further on. She looked up, the sky was a velvety-black colour, the sun dark with a ring around it. It was much warmer than it had been before, with torches burning in what looked like alleys.

"Where am I?" she whispered.

"I told you, Os Dakar. You should know that." He gave her a weird look. "Do you really not know where you are?"

"I…I was doing a..job…and the boat I was on tipped over and I fell. And then I was in the cave and everything was different. It was winter there, for one thing."

He thought this over. "That's strange. Because most people don't come here for no reason, and no one by accident." She noticed nervously that he has a habit of running his hand down his disks when he was thinking.

"Why…don't people come here?" she asked.

"Os Dakar is a prison pleateau," he said, as though she were crazy. "You wouldn't live very long even without all the tribes killing each other."

She started shaking. "How did I get here?" she whispered. A tear fell, and then another. "How did you…?"

"The same way everyone else did, guards pushed me down some sort of chute and that was that."

"Guards?" she asked.

"Well, it's no good to have us here if we can just get out again, right?" Whist said. She nodded, she supposed that made sense.

"You said something about the stones, what did you mean? What's speacil about them?" she asked him. She sat down and opened her bag, finding a large sub wrapped in tinfoil. It wasn't wet, so she took a half and offered it to him.

He smiled at her, friendly again, and took it. She didn't like ham or salami so she took a little part off and nervously put it in front of the dog, Blink. He ate it up quickly and went to ask for more, so she gave him the rest of it and got an approving look from Whist for her efforts.

"The stones give you a power, right? Mine let me communicate with Blink here, mind to mind sort of. It gives us a connection. I don't know too much about other stones though. I know gold is for healing, and it mostly ends there. What colour are yours?"

"Um…a sort of hot violet with flecks of black," she said. "I don't know what they do. They've never done anything…"

"Where are you from?" he asked her. "Never seen anyone with skin colour like yours," He'd already finished his sub and with a glance at her, taken her bag to look for more food. He picked up the tinfoil wrapped fajitas she'd put in there to eat on her way home. The sub she'd planned to give to Hector. He sniffed them, and then took a bite.

"I live in the states," she said. "My father is Mexican and my mother is Japanese."

Now he looked confused. "States? Mexican? Japanese?" he took another bite thoughtfully. "What are those?"

"Countries," she said. She was feeling really confused now. "What are you thinking Whist?"

"I'm thinking that if there's another way to get into Os Dakar, there must be a way out. Maybe that's what you're stones can do. I think we should see." He thought of something suddenly. "Can you fight?"

She had learned street fighting from her older brothers, and taken tae kwon do since she was 11. At school, she'd been in the archery club and was actually quite good. "Yeah," she said.

"What's your weapon?" he asked, getting up and walking again, checking to make sure she was following. She was.

"Um…bow and arrows," she said. Why were they heading towards the corpses?

"Whist…" she began, and he bent down and plucked a bow from a dead body. The person was covered in red and blue paint, and she couldn't see much else besides the blood. He started picking for arrows, and gave them to her, along with a blood-stained quiver.

"Around here, you gotta just take stuff," he said. "Because there's no place to buy them at."

She nodded, a little fearful, and started putting them in. Swallowing bile, she began to pick through them too, looking for weapons.

"What's your name, anyway?" he asked her. "I meant to ask you earlier but I forgot."

"Estrella," she said. Ew…she was not going to look at that again. "It meants Star in Spanish."

"Star?" he said. "I'm calling you that, then, ok?"

"Ok."

Blink barked and Whist looked up. "Shit, they're here already," he said. She looked up.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You wanted to know what a Snapper is, right?" he asked. Then he pointed. Four vaguely lizard-like shapes with hunched backs and blood-stained muzzles were on the hill, looking down at them, and began to run down. "Good thing there's only four."

"What do we do?" she asked, fear making her voice weak.

"Now we see how well you can fight," he said.

**End of chapter 2!! Did you like it?? Hope so!! **

**I'll update soon again but review for me please..**


	3. Chapter 3

**Listening to techno. Sets the mood y'know?? **

"**Mountain King" is the best song ever!! Its like E**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Broken Sky**

Chapter Three

Estrella's heart started beating fast. She looked at Whist who casually threw a spinning disk at one of them, hitting it in the throat. The creature gave a strangled cry and fell, bleeding.

She fumbled, and then put an arrow in the bow. It was different taking time to aim and shoot in a controlled enviornment where everyone was silent to give the archers maximum concentration.

It was quite another to be terrorfied that you're life was going to end in the next few minutes, strange demonic creatures leaping for you, with a dog barking loudly in the background (although not as loudly as her frantically beating heart).

She shot, and missed terribly. "Shit!" she yelled, and tried again. Perfect hit to the heart, it fell just a foot away from her, crying in pain. She wanted to turn and run but saw another eight or so running around, clearly hearing the battle.

Whist and Blink seemed quite calm, fighting them off on their own. Estrella had somehow backed herself into a terrible position. She felt an unnatural heating in her back, and then three of them leaped at her at once.

Something came out from her hands. It was thin, violet tinged with black, and vaguely spindly. It looked like purple lightning. It made a ring around her and struck out violently. Whist yelled something and she saw him jump back.

The three closest to her were dead, completely fried black. The ones close but not as close were yelping in pain, limping badly, their bodies twitching. Whist made quick work of them. The last one only seemed to get a bolt, and it bled freely. Blink got that one.

And just like that, the battle was over. She fell to her knees, feeling weak. Whist saundered up to her. "Now that was something," he said. "I've seen spirit stones give someone control over lightning before, but not that much. Guess six stones really makes a difference."

He squatted down next to her. She weakly raised her head back up. "Am I supposed to get this…weak?" she asked.

"Nah. You just don't have any control is all. It ges easier with practice."

She felt some feeling go back into her legs and stood up, a little shakily. He put out his hand to steady her.

"Thanks," she said. Thinking, she suddenly said: "Please help me Whist, I don't know…" her eyes shone. "Please, I'll do anything you want. I'll fight for you, you can teach me how to control these better. Please let me stay with you," don't leave me, she silently begged. She was scared and alone, and so far he had been the only person she'd met that wasn't, well, dead. And as if that wasn't enough she'd also discovered that she had the electrical power of a small powerplant.

He looked like he was considering it. Outloud he said: "Well, the six stones are definitely an asset." He gave her a serious look. She was becoming more used to his rapid changes in mood. "But you have to do whatever I say, no questions, got it? And you _never _use your powers against me, whether we're fighting, or you think I'm wrong, whatever it is. Never."

"I can do that," Estrella said eagerly. "Never, I promise."

"I guess I can keep you around then," he said.

She was so relieved she could have kissed him. Instead, she smiled, "Thank you," she said.

He smiled back. "First, help me go through these guys clothes and pick up anything that looks valuable or useful."

"Ok," she said, not thrilled but eager to please. They spent some time like that. There was no change in the sky, and nothing that could indicate how much time they spent there. She was only aware of her own growing discomfort.

The smell of death and blood was thick and strong, mixing with the scent of charred flesh and that only made her want to throw up. She went through their bodies, blood staining her hands and clothes until 'clean' became a distant memory. Evantually though, Whist called her over and said they were done.

Thank God, she thought. She wasn't sure how much more she would have been able to take. They set off walking, and she was proud of herself for not having thrown up more than once.

"My place is just a little away," he said. "You can sleep there for a while until I get back."

"Where are you going?" she asked curiously.

"I have to arrange something with one of the tribe leaders," he said mysteriously. She gave him an inquisative look and he winked. "Don't worry," he said. "You'll be safe there. And if anyone gets too close you can just fry 'em."

"Ok," she said. She felt sick at the thought of actually killing a person the same way she had killed those Snappers, but Whist seemed to think nothing of it and she began to wonder if that was simply how things were done in this place.

"Good girl," he said. "When I get back, I'll sleep for a bit then we can eat and work on controlling your power. You have a lot, but its worth shit if you can't use it when you need to."

"How are you going to teach me?" she asked.

"I'm not sure yet," he said. "Since mine is different, I never had to learn to use my spirit stones the way other people did." He gave himself another scratch, she wondered if he had fleas. "I'll figure something out."

"Ok," she said. "I trust you Whist."

"Ya I know," he said.

They reached his place a while later, avery modest-looking hut. By that point she was so tired that she wouldn't have cared if it was a hole in the ground. She went in gratefully and he pointed out a cot.

She barely heard what he said, just lay down and slept the sleep of the dead.

When she woke up, she saw he was already awake, and looking through her things again. He was eating more of her fajitas, and tossing a few to Blink.

"I'm glad you like them," she said.

He gave her a glance. "Good, you're awake. We can go practice now," he said.

She yawned and stretched, getting up. For all the outside had changed, no time may have passed at all. The sun was exactly where it had been before, and it unnerved her. "Does it ever change?" she asked.

"No," he said somberly. "It never changes. You spend years here and never know how time is going by. It's part of the torture of living in this place." He gave her another quick glance. "You'll spend the rest of your life here," he said. "You'll see."

"I won't," she said resolutely. "I'll find a way out, somehow. I'm not dying in this place."

He gave her a grin, albeit the fact that there was absolutely no joy in it. "You'll see," he said.

They went out to get as much privacy as possible. He explained that he was going to throw things at her (rocks) and she was going to hit them or get hit. Evantually she'd learn to control it. She asked what would happen if she could only use it when she was scared and he gave her a mischeivious grin. "I got ways of making that happen. Easier on you if you can just learn to control it the normal way."

They spent a long time doing that. Evantually, after enough bruises, she got a semblance of control and he said they could go back. Half the clearing was destroyed but on the bright side she was too worn out to do any more damage.

It continued that way for a long time. She didn't know if it was days, weeks, or even months; because time never changed. In the time she spent with Whist, she slowly grew more used to him. Her initial fear vanished completely, and then she felt secure enough to open up to him. He in return seemed to lower his guard around her, and she was glad that she was able to see his true self.

Sometimes, she wondered if he would have repulsed her if they'd met under different circumstances. It was true that he was good to her as he'd promised to be, and friendly, but she knew that it was partly due to the fact that it was conveinent for him. On more than one occasion, she had fought for him, protected his life over her own. She helped him when new people arrived in Os Dakar and they handed them over to the tribe.

What had chilled her the most was the way he could kill so casually. The first time she had taken a human life she had started crying. At first he tried to be kind and understanding, and then he'd told her to get over it. They were in Os Dakar, it was kill or be killed. He didn't see them as people, he saw them as oppurtunities or obstacles. His actions depended on which category they fell into.

For all this, she liked him. He never harmed her, even when they argued, which was rare. He took her out often to train her power, and even taught her to fight better, teaching her how to use throwing disks as well, and helping her master the bow and arrow. They kept each other company when they ate, and she shared a place beside him with Blink when she slept; never having liked sleeping alone very much. He made the hellhole she had fallen into seem better.

Evantually, she got used to everything. She no longer mourned the death of whatever she killed, be it Snapper or person. She didn't feel a disgust but familiarity looking among the dead for useful materials. And she learned to look out for Snappers and defend herself on her own. Sometimes, Whist affectionately referred to her as 'his protégé'. She liked it when he said that, although it made her wonder if he was also teaching her to leave behind her own humanity, as he had left his.

Life became, if nothing else, dependable. She knew what each day—if it could be called that, they both had a habit of saying it—would bring. Maybe another battle, or peace; the difference wasn't much. She was even comfortable with it. It had a certain rythem, and she finally admitted to herself that she would die there, and that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.

She believed that, until the day the red-haired Dominian girl said she knew a way out.

**End of chapter three, this is just flying by. But I'm feeling in the mood to write so I have to get it out.**

**I'm so tired. Its almost 2 and I have school tomorrow. Its not like I'm going to class anyway but…I have to pretend to**

**Well please review and good night everyone**


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